Meet the Exquisite Quill Authors

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Genesis of a Book - My Mr. Manny by Jennifer Garcia

Inspiration for My Mr. Manny

My inspiration for this story was a
culmination of a writing prompt sent to me that said, “Here comes the Manny”
and some of my experiences as an Italian-American that left The East Coast and
her family­–mother, cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends–behind to live with
her father on the West Coast. Most of the story is made up, but as all of us
writers do we swirl in a bit of us.

Summary

Mia Balducci misses her childhood days and yearns for the big, Italian family that she left behind in
small town Massachusetts. At the tender age of sixteen, Mia moves with her
bachelor father to Los Angeles, but no matter how many years pass, it never
becomes home to her. The years spent living with her father aren’t easy,
especially since she can’t stop thinking about what she once had. Her
enrollment in the University of Southern California promises to bring exciting
changes to her life, but Mia winds up with big problems instead. When she runs into
an old friend from her old hometown of Winthrop, she gets swept up in
nostalgia, and she soon loses herself in a quickly-progressing romance. When
the fantasy falls apart, she is left to raise her precious little girl, Lucia,
on her own. The demands of Mia’s work schedule and Lucia’s needs increase, and
their lives become increasingly hectic. It is soon clear to Mia that she needs
help. Luckily, her life-saving cousin saves the day and brings the mother and
daughter a male nanny – their new “manny.”

After losing his high-pressure job on Wall
Street, Dominic Roberts wants to follow his dreams to have a family. He’s
already one fiancée down, and there are no likely prospects for another. In
order to find the family he so desperately wants, he finds himself getting into
the manny business. Since he is fully qualified to provide child care and is
eager to leave New York City behind, his sister-in-law is able to land him a
job in California working for his first client – the beautiful and intriguing
Mia Balducci.

Will Lucia like the new man in her mother's
life? Will Mia? And will this new trio discover the happily ever after they all
so desperately seek?

Author Bio

Jennifer Garcia’s lifelong love for
reading and writing was put aside for many years while she made her way in the
world and nurtured her young family. Originally from Boston, she currently
resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. Even though
she is older, and life never seems to settle, she’s finding her way while
attending college full-time in pursuit of a B.A. in English Literature. She
also runs a business, and is still caring for her family. Believing she can do
it all, with the help of her family, she worked on her first novel during the
late hours of the night while balancing the rest of her life during the day.
Her hard work paid off, as her first novel, My Mr. Manny, was released August
2013 and her first novella, In My Mother’s Footsteps, was released July 2013.

Jennifer, When I read this part of your teaser "In order to find the family he so desperately wants, he finds himself getting into the manny business", I was hooked. I could imagine all sorts of complications, heart-tugging scenes, and laugh-out-loud moments for your hero, Dominic. ;-)